Tesla comes under fire once again for its controversial Autopilot feature

Tesla may have delivered more cars than ever in Q3 of 2016, but whether or not those cars are up to standard has yet to be determined. Recently, Elon Musk’s car company reached an important milestone, logging 222 million miles with its autopilot feature. But the controversial tool is still being called a “significant traffic hazard” by a German Transport Ministry’s internal report.

Late last week, German magazine Der Spiegel published excerpts from the internal report authored by the Federal Highway Research Institute of Germany’s Transport Ministry. In it, officials level a number of major critiques against Tesla’s autopilot feature. However, some say that the criticisms may not be entirely fair, as the Ministry appeared to test Autopilot as a fully self-driving system, which is not the case. And as a result, Tesla has issued a statement of its own to attempt to clarify how it’s branding its most contentious feature.

“Autopilot is a suite of technologies that operate in conjunction with the human driver to make driving safer and less stressful,” the carmaker said, adding that its use of the term is synonymous to that of the aviation industry’s usage — “to denote a support system that operates under the direct supervision of a human pilot.”

Musk’s company continued, “Tesla has always been clear that Autopilot is designed for use on highways or while in slow-moving traffic. Any vehicle can be misused.” Moreover, Tesla insisted that there are a number of safeguards in place to ensure that the human behind the wheel remains alert. For example, the statement read, “Before enabling Autopilot, the driver first needs to agree to ‘keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times’ and to always ‘maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle.’ Subsequently, every time the driver activates Autopilot, he is shown a visual message reminding him to ‘keep your hands on the wheel’ and ‘be prepared to take over at any time.'”

All the same, Tesla is being asked to clarify how it markets Autopilot, with AutoGuide noting that the company has been ordered to stop using the term “autopilot” in its ads. For Tesla, it looks like no good news can go completely unchallenged.

The American Automobile Association tested cars with features such as lane-keeping and adaptive cruise control and found them lacking in real-world conditions. Forty percent of surveyed U.S. adults think self-driving cars exist now.

You don't need to opt for a hybrid or an all-electric ride in order to achieve good fuel economy. These vehicles pack both performance and style, whether you're in the market for a luxury sedan or a game-changing pickup truck.

Jeep will introduce the long-promised Wrangler-based pickup truck at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show. Named Gladiator, the model was designed to conquer the great outdoors, not for the construction site.

Kia has released a teaser image to preview the next Soul. Scheduled to make its debut at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show, the 2020 Soul will keep the outgoing model's boxy proportions but it will wear a sharper design.

Henrik Fisker has already had a career most executives can only dream about. He designed the BMZ Z8, a couple of Aston Martins, and his own Fisker Karma. But he’s got a plan to disrupt the auto industry, forged by lessons learned over the…

The 2020 Toyota Corolla sedan gets the same upgrades as the recently-introduced Corolla hatchback, including a firmer foundation, new engine, and more tech features. Will that be enough to keep the long-lived Corolla nameplate relevant?

Electric car startup Rivian has finally turned off stealth mode and provided details about what it's been working on since 2009. It will build battery-powered off-roaders instead of taking on Tesla and others in the luxury EV segment.

Honda will introduce a new SUV with a familiar nameplate at the 2018 Los Angeles auto show. It envisioned the 2019 Passport as a five-seater alternative to the eight-seater Pilot. The two models will share a platform and many tech features.

To make really smart transportation choices, more precise location data will have to be integrated with citywide transportation data. Here’s how one company is mapping the world by using just three words.